The Playground, Sushi and a Nakey Butt

My birthday was filled with many of my favorite things (minus a Starbucks iced coffee and my mom). We spent the morning at the playground, had sushi at one of my favorite restaurants (1/2 price Happy Hour! Woohoo!), and spent some time loving my soft, squishy babies after their bathtime. Oh, yes, and I cannot forget that Jamie and Macy went to Starbucks to buy our favorite red velvet cupcakes. Jadon was sooo excited to have one after dinner.

But wait, that's not all! Grandpa called, while we were at dinner, to say he stopped and bought me an icecream cake from Coldstone! Jadon and Macy ate a majority of Grandpa's piece. Jadon could not contain himself with those sprinkles! Despite the fact that he reads about sprinkles in his book, "If You Give a Cat a Cupcake," he had never eaten them before. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say we'll need to add sprinkles to his birthday cake in May ;)

Here are the pics from our day in absolutely no order because I have no time for that these days, and by the end of the evening, I forgot to take a pic of the Coldstone cake...just pretend...and add sprinkles!

Starbucks red velvet cuppy cakes! Yummmy!

Jamie's oysters with Thai dipping sauce. Fabulous!

We went a little overboard...and we definitely had leftovers!

Godfather roll with baked scallops on top

Jadon and Macy's California roll...in honor of Daddy ;)

Her face says it all. Neither of our kids like rice of any kind :/

If you look closely, you can really see the birthmark in his right (your left) eye...closest thing to blue eyes I'm gonna get with any of our kids, I suppose.

My twin ;)

Like a buttered biscuit that girl!

Could squish her chubby butt in my hands all day!

The teacher.

The student...mad skills.

My baby can play on the playground already?!? :(

Monkey.

Refusing to let me take his pic, but I got him anyway ;)

Super monkey. Such a nut this one!

Ready for the big girl slide!

Wheee!

Thank you to my sweet James who is always so good to me, not just on my birthday, but everyday. You're the best husband and daddy ever! Love you!

Me, Today

Today begins the 33rd year of my life. There is significance in being this age. My perspective this year is different than others. My Jesus was said to have lived a short 33 years. My uncle Chuck, my mom's older brother, passed away from cancer in our home under the care of Hospice at this, now my age. My mom met and then married my stepdad, Jadon and Macy's grandpa, when she was 33. I think I thought they were old then. Funny how I don't want to think of them as old now. Life has taught me that I will be 53, before I know it.

I realize even more now what a young man my uncle Chuck was, when he left behind his two kids. I get the tears and the struggle to hang on for them, the desire to live and watch them grow. How sad. I get it. I really, really get it. Life is sooo very short. I want my days to have more meaning. What if today were my last day, this year my last year?

Now that I am 33, I realize just how short my Jesus' time on earth was. Clearly I will never have the impact on the world that He had. Clearly I am called to impact the world for Him. What if I only have today? What if I only have this year?

Today begins a new chapter. I want a life lived not for myself, not just for my kids, but a life that will outlive me. I want to be a better wife, a better mama, a better daughter, sister, niece, cousin, friend. Above all else, I want to be a better servant of Christ.

Don't get me wrong. I will likely care for my kids more than I do other peoples' kids. They live in my home. They came from my womb. They are mine. I will likely spend more time with my friends and family than strangers. I will probably buy more things for them than anyone else too.

Let's also not forget the fact that I love to travel. I love Starbucks. I love sushi and Whole Foods Market. I'm also going to be living in a city with a Cheesecake Factory in a few months, okay? ;)

I need not mention how much I love taking pictures again either, right? I'll probably invest in another piece of equipment sometime this, my 33rd year. You'll likely see a thousand or so pictures of MY kids and MY family or MY friends on my website or on here and probably on my Facebook page too.

But here's the real deal---I love Jesus above all else! I want EVERYTHING I do to exude Him. If you see me grabbing a Starbucks, KNOW I am thanking God for His provision, not just financial, but that He gave me a loving, supportive husband to share that with. If I have the ability to travel this year, KNOW that I am marveling at the beauty God has created all around me. I WILL be taking pictures that I pray will proclaim the glory of His Majesty...have you seen the ocean? the mountains? the changing colors of the leaves? the enormous rocks and caves? the endless fields of crops ready for harvesting? In awe!

My goal this year, as I begin the journey of having my own business, is not that it be successful. I have no goal, as far as money I expect or would like to earn. I have no agenda for wedding bookings. I don't ever want to care about the sale of images more than I care about the people in them...and I truly don't. If I don't make another penny this year as a photographer, who cares? I just know God gave me a passion, I get to do it, and I love it!

What matters to me most, this 33rd year of my life, is that I glorify my Savior in all I do. Let me be a better wife because I am thankful for a God-fearing, God-serving husband. Let me be a better mama because He entrusted these sweet blessings into my care. I am called to train them in the way they should go. I am called to impact their lives everyday, so that they may know Jesus as their Lord and Savior and place Him above all else. No small task here!

I vow this year to give, give, give and then give some more. My gift of photography will be used to document those who need a voice and to celebrate the works God is doing in the world, in families, in the lives of those who love Him. I surrender my lens to the Lord, so that He may tell the stories He chooses. I pray I never get in His way.

This year and all others that follow, I vow to "delight myself in the Lord." He promises if I do that, He will give me "the desires of my heart." You are the desire of my heart, Lord. You alone. This year is for you, my Jesus.

Thank you for my husband. Thank you for my babies. Thank you for my passion and gift of snapping images and telling stories. Thank you for my loving, supportive family...the one into which I was born, and the one into which I married. I don't deserve any of it, and will do my best to thank you for it all, in service to You.

I am 33 and counting...33 and making it count.

Tied up...

I can't remember the last time I went two weeks without blogging. It seriously makes me so, so sad and causes anxiety that I'm going to forget to document some of the great memories my babies have given me. Yes, in just two weeks. Macy is more and more like a toddler everyday. She's WEANED!?! She walks. She dances. She identifies new things by the hour! She loves to have us read to her. She's just a living doll, bright and smiley and cute as a button...but I promise I'll get into detail VERY, VERY soon :)

Jadon has been honing his comedic skills. He loves being ornery. He loves torturing Macy, but is equally concerned for her. Last night, Auntie Em was talking to him on the phone, and asked if he was going to come and see her today. He told her, "No. I gotta stay here wit Mama, Daddy, Sister and Jadon." When she asked him why and begged him to change his mind, he said, "Oh, now don't start that!" ahahaha I have many, many funny stories to share about him in the VERY near future. Promise. I mean, he is 32-months-old today! Holy cow! Is my baby only four months from turning THREE???

Okay, okay...now I have to tell you why I haven't been blogging so much lately. I've been busy. I mean, I've been really busy...shooting pictures and editing and building my website and a fan page and...well...I've taken the plunge. I'm finally calling myself...a PHOTOGRAPHER! Yay! I mean, holy heck! This is exciting :D and scary :/ but always sooooo much fun! Much more to say. Much more to do! For now, without further adieu, I give you CoCo Bleu Photography :) :) :)


Know an expecting mom? Parents with a newborn? A newly engaged couple? A couple with a date already set? A family who wants BOTH parents in the picture? A family who will be vacationing in Myrtle Beach? A high school junior in need of senior portraits? Someone who just wants to document themselves at this stage of their life? Send them to my website. Send them to my Facebook fan page. Send them my way! :)

Thank you to everyone who has encouraged me in this journey...for every, "Wow! Great pic!"...for every, "Who took these pictures? You DID?" Thank you, thank you, thank you! I thank God everyday that I get to stay home with my babies, never missing a minute of them growing and learning. Second to that is my photography. I cannot believe I get paid to do both now. Ice cream sundae with the cherry on top!

Maybe Next Year...

...I'll design our Christmas cards myself, from scratch. If I hadn't already bought three boxes of cards after Christmas last year, I would have sent this one out:

If we had it printed in a cool square shape, it would cost us about $0.99 each or about $50.00 + envelopes and stamps. Steep, right?

Since we're in a down economy, and we do our best to be frugal, we're going to settle for these two pics, neatly placed in a photo frame card from Target.


After the 50% discount for three boxes of cards and approx. 50, 4X6 prints from Costco, the total cost for these is about $0.40 each, which included envelopes...less than half the price!

I know no one really cares what KIND of card they receive from us, just knowing we were thinking of them this holiday season. Sometimes it's nice to say a little more, and for me, having the story of our Savior surrounding pictures of my sweet babies makes me really happy, and sometimes I just like to create stuff. I also have a hard time choosing just ONE picture to send out! I like a family shot AND one of each baby, but the frame cards only allow one pic, so maybe next year :)

Tizzed

Today, I was blessed to (1) drive in a car ALL BY MYSELF and sing praises to the Lord, (2) get 50% off of hair services at an AVEDA salon, (3) have the best FREE hot tea and a sugar cookie, while I sat in the salon and read a few chapters from Crazy Love, and (4) left the salon feeling a bit more like Andrea (read: NOT just Jadon or Macy's mommy). I asked for this Ashley Tisdale special:


Thank you, Jessica, stylist extraordinaire! The cherries (yes, plural) on top were (1) Jessica offered to trade services with me---I will take pics for her professional hair/make-up portfolio, and she will make me look like the Tiz on a more frequent basis (YES, please and thank you!) and (2) I got to come home to my sweet babies and my incredibly handsome and generous husband.

Jamie's cherry on top? Both kids napped for 3 of the 4 hours I was gone. We're going to overlook the fact that Jadon took the Aqua Globe thing out of the plant in the bedroom and made a mess and then pooped in his pull-up at the beginning of naptime, causing Macy to wake up and throw a screaming fit for about 10 minutes. Oops!

Lovin' This!

If you listen to KLOVE, you've likely heard the song "I'm Singing" by Kari Jobe, right? I just discovered her this past week, and I'm in awe of her! Why have I not heard her before??? She's like an adorable, solo artist, American-raised version of Hillsong. LOVE her :)

One of the best parts of her new song, "I'm Singing," is hearing Jadon try to sing along :) I'll get him on video one day soon hopefully. Not really feeling the Youtube users version of her video, since the testimonies cover up most of the lyrics to the song (though the testimonies are great), so I'm posting one of the other songs I really love. I HIGHLY recommend you check out the other videos on her channel, especially the songs We Cry Out, I'm Singing, and Beautiful. Besides having a powerful voice, she's pretty with a capital P :) I CANNOT WAIT to see/hear her play live one day!
Enjoy!


So what'd you think of her, Kacie Jean?

BTW, Auntie Em and Tiffany, I noticed the cutie singing with her (you know, the one with the white button down, tie and vest?) doesn't have a wedding ring. One of you should totally stalk the guy on the Internet and get a date. Seriously. That's how I roll. Where do you think I met Jamie? AOL, baby! Ha! :)

Tourism

My little Carolina boy :)
My therapy...love it!

Shower Blogging

Sounds like some Olympic game played in the UK, doesn't it? If you want to call mind ping-pong a game, then that's exactly what it is! EVERYTIME I'm in the shower, my mind races with things I would LOVE to blog about. You see, my shower time is the ONLY awake time during my day that I have time to think about myself, things I like, things I want to do and achieve, things I want to bring to the ministry of the world or our church.

I wish so many times that I had a personal secretary sitting on the toilet. She wouldn't talk (I need complete and total peace and quiet, in order to filter all of the madness that goes on in this head of mine). She would just do dictation. She would capture all of my brilliant ideas for blogging and life, so they would never be lost, once I've shaved and rinsed the conditioner out of my hair.

The very SECOND I step out of the shower and the sound of the water that muffled the sound of the crying baby or the toddler who had to run in to go potty gets turned off, I know that all of the time that was MINE and all about ME will be lost, spilling out of the door onto the carpet in the hallway, running into the tile in the foyer and into the life that is motherhood.

So here are the very random things, my friends, that I actually can remember that ran thru my head in the shower today:

---Jadon is BORED. He needs more challenging toys. Must seek and find something new and educational to do with him.
---People are going to think I'm an over-achieving parent and want my kid to act as such...Whatever! People are always going to have opinions, especially when it comes to raising children! (Self-talk: worry about yourself, sister! Who cares what they think? Whoever "they" is.)
---I NEED to make time and find the energy to exercise EVERYDAY, darn it!
---My desire is not to be just simply "healthy." My desire is to be in my peak physical condition. I don't settle in any area of my life. I want to excel at being physically fit. Thank you, Oprah, for running a marathon at 40-something!!! (Now that I'm 32, that is NOT old anyway!)
---Can't wait to take Jadon to the pool this summer! What in the world will Macy be like at that point? How is this going to work? It will...I hope.
---The fact that I worry so much about my kids has to do with a lack of trust in God. They're not MY kids anyway...they're HIS. He has merely entrusted them to us for an unspecified amount of time. I CANNOT come to grips with this! Okay, I can, but I haven't even come close to it yet. Something happening to my kids is, by far, the greatest fear of my life, and I think about it daily :/ Working on it :/
---I struggle with spending money on anything...really I do. I feel guilty about most every purchase we make, minus food at the grocery store, I think. As a mom a Christian, I think about kids who are dying of starvation or from not having clean water in other countries all of the time. I know there is nothing wrong with enjoying the financial provisions we are given by God, but I just don't think 10-12% of our income is quite enough, if we still have enough money left over to buy so many things for our kids or so much extra food that we have our choice of what to eat for each meal...still thinking a LOT about all of this, and trying to reason how to deal with my inner thoughts about it all. I just know I can never out-give God, but we do have a mortgage to pay and are in need of a newer vehicle that has A/C and preferably room for a double stroller.
---I wish so much that our church or a church close to us had a MOPS group! I have no desire to start one from the ground up, but wouldn't mind helping out with one. MOPS sounds like such a "mom" thing to do. Yeah, sweetheart, you ARE a mom! You no longer worry about wearing trendy clothes and hanging out with people late on a Saturday night. I need and desire to be around other SAH-Moms. If I don't get some validation, I may start to truly believe that I am losing my mind here (only once or twice a day for short periods of time).
---My in-laws are going to wonder why Jamie married me, if they read all of this non-sensical talk that goes on in my head!
---I REALLY want and need to put my two blogs into one blog. I want all of our stuff in one place on the Internet...easier for me and family and friends who read it. Besides, when we have a 3rd or 4th baby, I will NEVER remember all of the usernames and passwords. I have a severe case of pregnancy/mom brain now! I'm seriously going to work on getting this one done, hopefully without losing any of my entries for either Jadon or Macy.

Okay, so now, in the middle of this, I've had to start nursing a screaming Macy, so she will not wake up Jadon from his nap. See what I mean? :/ 10 minute shower, 5 mintues afterwards with my thoughts (with the background music of a crying 8 week old and fear that Jadon will wake so soon), still haven't even begun the process of maintaining myself (i.e. brushing/drying my hair, moisturizing the very dry parts of my body, putting contacts in, etc....endless list for a woman, really!), so I'll likely not get to half of it (and feel and look like a crappy version of my former self), before so many other mothering duties start calling...thankful, but feeling blah!

Can no longer type with one hand, while balancing the laptop on the arm of the chair, and my mom is calling on the phone. Looks like, if shower blogging were an Olympic sport, I would certainly get the Gold!

Ready for Swimsuit Season?

Yeah, me either :/

Momma Needs a New Pair of Shoes...

...to go with her new hair do? I was inspired by Macy Bleu. Yes, I'm back to dark again (this time with some bangs), and honestly feel more like myself this way...at least for now ;) Thanks, Mom!

New Favorite

In another life, I live in Nashville in the center of the Christian music industry, and I promote concerts and albums for awesome artists like this:

How awesome is Addison Road? See, Christians are NOT what people always think. Some of us aren't old like our grandmas and big nerds like me ;) I wonder if I'll ever live in Nashville and do that kind of work? I feel kind of old for it now that I'm a mom. One thing's for sure, Christian music is a HUGE passion of mine. Maybe Jadon or Macy will sing or play an instrument in the church worship band. Hmmm, I wonder. Wouldn't that be lovely? and fun? Then I'd have a reason to move to Nashville one day...so I can be a "momager" like Lynn Spears or Dina Lohan (Ha! Kidding.) I'd be more of a Jonas Brothers momager ;) and keep my kids grounded in the Lord. Then again, maybe I should just keep my kids in sports here in South Carolina...just look at Katy Perry, for goodness sakes! Come back to us, Katy!

At any rate, hope you like their music...maybe they're coming to a city near you with Building429. If so, you should tell people and go check them out! Nothing better than a great night of worship :)

Therapy A La Biltmore

I've always loved taking pictures for as long as I can remember. Always wanted to take a professional photography class, but couldn't fit it in during college. When I was around 23, I got a fairly nice camera with several lenses for Christmas and started experimenting with pics of my little cousin Charli who was about three years old at the time. She was, hands down, my favorite subject, and I spent a pretty penny getting film developed back then.

Obviously, as a new mom, I spend lots of time taking pictures of my new favorite subject :) Problem is, my fairly awesome camera no longer works :( So I use what I have, which is a cool little Kodak deal Jamie got me last Christmas, and when I can, I borrow my mom's really saweet Sony digital that has lots of options. Not sure why I'm not the official owner of this camera, since my mom ALWAYS cuts heads off of people or leaves them off to the side somewhere...it's true, Mom, and you know it!

But anyway, while we were at the Biltmore in Asheville, NC this past weekend, I zoned out for about 30 minutes and took pictures of some of the millions of flowers in the amazing gardens there. Seriously I took so long, I lost my mom, Jamie and Jadon, and I didn't really care :P It's nice not to think about ANYTHING for at least 30 minutes, isn't it? (*Ha! That reminds me that I, honest to goodness, bought a coloring book and crayons, when I was pregnant with Jadon...haha! Photography may be more age appropriate...ya think?)P.S. Who can honestly tell me what's going on with those two grasshoppers??? Jamie says one is killing the other...I'm going with mating. What's your guess?

I've NEVER done scenic photography, so I'm kind of proud of some of these. At any rate, it was soooo therapeutic and something I can see myself doing at least one hour/week at some point in the very near future...just for fun and to remind myself that I have more talents and gifts than cooking and being a Mommy and wife. Enjoy :)